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Meet Franz Humer MBA'71, Chairman of the Board, INSEAD
June 2009
INSEAD: You have now chaired the INSEAD Board for almost a year. As both Chairman and an alumnus
of the school, what does the slogan 'The Business School for the World' mean for you?
Dr. Franz Humer: 'INSEAD, The Business School for the World' is not a slogan. It is both INSEAD's reality
and its aspiration, for three reasons:
� The cornerstone is our faculty. No other business school has a more diverse and engaged faculty
body than ours.
� The diversity of our participants. No other business school in the world can claim the breadth and
spread of our participants.
� INSEAD's unique geographic spread. Our continued success in Fontainebleau, our successful
development in Singapore, and our increasing activities in Abu Dhabi, Israel and New York.
INSEAD: What are the next steps?
FH: There is no doubt that Abu Dhabi will develop into another Singapore. Based on our executive
education activities, we are studying the development of an Executive MBA in Abu Dhabi and also looking
at new facilities. This is fully supported by our faculty, and six members will be located in Abu Dhabi by the
end of this calendar year.
Our research centre in Israel, although different in scale and purpose, is equally important. We hope that
INSEAD's presence in the Middle East will contribute to facilitating dialogue and also have some influence
on keeping peace in this key part of the world. In the meantime, we look towards the future and
developing strategies for both India and China.
INSEAD: How is the school planning to finance this global strategy?
FH: The school needs support and money. The development in Abu Dhabi is funded thanks to the very
generous support of the Abu Dhabi government. We have also just closed our latest capital campaign on
time and on target, for a grand and impressive total of €203m, of which 20% came from alumni. It would
be inappropriate to launch a new campaign in the current economic environment, but our need for support
doesn't end, nor does our fundraising. Our alumni are in the best position to influence the world, in
business and within their communities. We need our alumni to remain engaged and supportive.
INSEAD: You mentioned faculty as the cornerstone of INSEAD. Can you elaborate?
FH: Basically, we want to recruit and retain the best faculty. Over the last two years, several of our senior
faculty members have retired and it has proven very difficult to recruit new faculty because of competition
- many schools are trying to expand their activities, particularly in Asia. However, today, US schools are
being hit hard as their endowments suffer due to the economic downturn, which has created an
opportunity for us to recruit, as we are less dependent on our endowment. This year, we plan to recruit up
to 20 new faculty members. Saying this, we also need to consider that this recruitment will represent an
enormous task for our current team, as a huge effort to integrate and bring them into the school and into
the INSEAD culture will be required. I also know that we need to maintain and share this very special
feeling of - it is difficult to describe, but I certainly recognize it when I see it! – a feeling of community, of
entrepreneurship, a 'can do' attitude.
INSEAD: How would you describe INSEAD's image externally and in your opinion, how can alumni play a
part in this?
FH: Our vision is to be 'The Business School for the World'. The MBA programme is doing very well and we
were pleased to be in 5th position in the latest FT survey. We are doing less well in executive education,
but are putting plans in place to improve our position – the first, being to identify our weaknesses. Alumni
already play and can play an even greater role in supporting these plans by referring company
development leads and by helping us to get first -class candidates into our programmes.
INSEAD: In terms of organisation, is the school ready to support such an ambition?